• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.261-264
• /
• 2019

Eupatorium rugosum Houtt. is known to be an alien invasive species and is listed as an ecosystem disturbance species in Korea. There is also an eastern North American species Ageratina altissima (L.) R. M. King & H. Rob. similarly dispersed in Korea. This article aims to clarify the taxonomic confusion regarding the species. The two names refer to the same species originally described as Ageratum altissimum by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. Ageratum altissimum was transferred to the genus Eupatorium and later to Ageratina. Eupatorium rugosum is the replacement name in Eupatorium because of E. altissimum L., an existing name based on the different type. When the species was transferred to Ageratina, A. altissima was published based on its basionym, as the epithet "altissima" was available in the genus. It seems that taxonomic confusion regarding the species in Korea is due to the recognition of the names as different taxa. Ageratina altissima is the correct name for the species based on morphological and molecular data.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 2019

Invasive alien plants were identified and recorded in Ulsan city based on field surveys and related literatures. These plants consisted of 147 taxa in total, belonging to 30 families, 93 genera, 144 species, 2 subspecies and 1 variant. The family of Asteraceae was predominant with 42 taxa, followed by Gramineae with 27 taxa and Leguminosae with 15 taxa. According to the result of life-form based distribution analysis revealed that 62 taxa (42.2%) were annual plants, 48 taxa (33.6%) were perennial plants, 34 taxa (23.1%) were biennial plants, and 3 taxa (2%) were woody perennials. Compare to other administrative districts in Korea, prevalence of invasive alien plants in a certain city of Ulsan showed the seventh highest species number followed after Jeju, Gyeonggi, Jeonnam, Incheon, Seoul and Gangwon. On the basis of the results from the country origin analysis, two dominating taxa were introduced from Europe and America, 55 taxa and 51 taxa respectively. The spreading grade of alien plants was elucidated in order of 1 grade (PS) 67 grade (21.1%)>2 grade (MS) 31 taxa (21.1%)>5 grade (WS) 18 taxa (11.6%)>3 grade (CS) 17 taxa (11.6%)>4 grade (SS) 14 taxa (9.5%). Ulsan city is one of a pivotal conduit for the introduction of invasive alien plants. Thereby, reliable management plans are required to monitor these species.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.34.1-34.9
• /
• 2018

Cirsium japonicum belongs to the Asteraceae or Compositae family and is a medicinal plant in Asia that has a variety of effects, including tumour inhibition, improved immunity with flavones, and antidiabetic and hepatoprotective effects. Silymarin is synthesized by 4-coumaroyl-CoA via both the flavonoid and phenylpropanoid pathways to produce the immediate precursors taxifolin and coniferyl alcohol. Then, the oxidative radicalization of taxifolin and coniferyl alcohol produces silymarin. We identified the expression of genes related to the synthesis of silymarin in C. japonicum in three different tissues, namely, flowers, leaves, and roots, through RNA sequencing. We obtained 51,133 unigenes from transcriptome sequencing by de novo assembly using Trinity v2.1.1, TransDecoder v2.0.1, and CD-HIT v4.6 software. The differentially expressed gene analysis revealed that the expression of genes related to the flavonoid pathway was higher in the flowers, whereas the phenylpropanoid pathway was more highly expressed in the roots. In this study, we established a global transcriptome dataset for C. japonicum. The data shall not only be useful to focus more deeply on the genes related to product medicinal metabolite including flavolignan but also to study the functional genomics for genetic engineering of C. japonicum.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.27-53
• /
• 2018

This study was carried out to investigate the flora of Manisan (Ganghwa-gun) from April of 2017 to August of 2018. The vascular plants identified during the 12 round field surveys were a to total of 508 taxa: 107 families, 306 genera, 456 species, 7 subspecies, 43 varieties, 1 form, and 2 hybrids. The largest families were as follows; Asteraceae (66 taxa), Poaceae (59 taxa), Fabaceae (25 taxa), Cyperaceae (25 taxa), Rosaceae (22 taxa), Liliaceae (20 taxa), Polygonaceae (17 taxa), Lamiaceae (14 taxa), Ranunculaceae (13 taxa), and Caryophyllaceae (13 taxa). Among these plants, 169 taxa were recoeded for the first time from this region. The six taxa of Korean endemic plants including Clematis brachyura Maxim., Viola seoulensis Nakai, Carex brevispicula G. H. Nam & G. Y. Chung, C. erythrobasis H. $L{\acute{e}}v$. & Vaniot, Hemerocallis hakuunensis Nakai, and Lycoris flavescens M. Y. Kim & S. T. Lee were found in this region. The vascular plants on the red list according to IUCN evaluation basis were found to be two taxa: Near Threatened (NT) species of Wikstroemia trichotoma (Thunb.) Makino, and Not Evaluate (NE) species of Tylophora floribunda Miq., respectively. The floristic regional indicator plants found in this area were 26 taxa comprising three taxa of degree IV, four taxa of degree III, seven taxa of degree II, and 12 taxa of degree I. In addition, the alien plants were identified as 49 taxa and the percentage of naturalized index (NI) was 9.7%, and urbanization index (UI) was 15.3%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.378-385
• /
• 2021

Saussurea taquetii reported from Jejudo Island is either treated as a synonym of S. japonica or is recognized as a distinct taxon. Saussurea japonica and S. pulchella belong to the sect. Theodorea by having peculiar outer phyllaries with pale purplish scarious apical appendages; they are closely related to each other morphologically and are known to occur widely throughout the Korean Peninsula. To assess the taxonomic status of S. taquetii, we investigated representative populations of S. taquetii from jejudo Island, Korea, and S. japonica from Kyushu in Japan. We conducted a comparative study morphologically using specimens of three species from KH, CNU, and TI. Saussurea taquetii is very similar morphologically and ecologically to S. japonica in Kyushu. Unlike previous floristic treatments, we concluded that the two taxa, S. pulchella and S. taquetii, occur on the Korean Peninsula and on jejudo Island, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.97-101
• /
• 2022

Saussurea namhaedoana, a new endemic species narrowly restricted to Namhaedo Island of Korea, is reported in this study. It can be distinguished from other congeneric species of Saussurea in Korea by having persistent radical leaves until flowering, hastate or sagittate leaves with mucronate toothed to undulate-lobulate margins, grayish cobwebby hairs on abaxial leaf surfaces when young, and tubular involucre with grayish cobwebby hairs. Morphologically, S. namhaedoana is closely related to other species in Korea, such as S. gracilis Maxim., S. insularis Kitam., S. seoulensis Nakai and S. albifolia M. J. Nam and H. T. Im, sharing grayish or white hairs on the abaxial leaf surfaces. It, however, can be distinguished from its close relatives by having a distinct leaf shape, i.e., sagittate or hastate leaves. The phylogenetic relationship relative to congeners in East Asia is yet to be determined.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 2014

Objectives : Aucklandiae Radix (Muxiang) one of important herbal medicines in oriental medicine, is defined as the dried root of Aucklandia lappa (Asteraceae). Owing to the similarities in the morphology and name, Inulae Radix (Tu-Muxiang) and Vladimiriae Radix (Chuan-Muxiang) as well as Aristolochiae Radix (Qing-Muxiang) originated from other medicinal plants are often used as substitutes and/or adulterants of Aucklandiae Radix. Therefore, a reliable authentication of these herbal medicines is necessarily for the public health and prevention of misuse. Methods : 32 samples of medicinal plants supplying Aucklandiae Radix, Inulae Radix, Vladimiriae Radix, and Aristolochiae Radix were collected in Korea and China. The ITS (Internal transcribed spacer) nucleotide sequences of samples were determined. The PCR primers to amply DNA marker of each herbal medicine were designed basing on the specific ITS regions showing differences in the sequences among medicinal plants. Results : Primer set Al R/IS F designed in this work amplified 220 bp PCR product only in samples of Aucklandiae Radix. In contrast, primer set Ih F/IS R, Vs R/IS F, and AcR F1/Ac R amplified 250 bp product, 356 bp prouct, and 516 bp product respectively to identify Inulae Radix, Vladimiriae Radix, and Aristolochiae Radix. Conclusions : The primers designed basing on the nucleotide sequences of ITS regions appearing differenced in the sequences among medicinal plants amplified the DNA markers for the identification of Aucklandiae Radix, Inulae Radix, Vladimiriae Radix, and Aristolochiae Radix. These herbal medicines were more efficiently identified by multiplex PCR method using all primers in a single PCR process.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.65 no.4
• /
• pp.367-374
• /
• 2022

In recent years, research into medicinal herbs with antioxidative activities has increased. Chrysanthemum morifolium and Chrysanthemum indicum are aromatic herb plants and that have long been used in traditional Vietnamese medicine. This study aims to evaluate the chemical compositions and antioxidative activities of essential oils hydrodistilled from the flower heads of C. morifolium and C. indicum. The chemical compositions of the essential oils were compared using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. The antioxidative activity was determined and evaluated spectroscopically by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, metal chelating activity, reducing power, and total antioxidant capacity assays. According to the GC/MS results, chrysanthenone was predominant in the essential oils of both C. morifolium (64.14%) and C. indicum (32.02%). This is the first report of the identification of chrysanthenone as a major constituent of the essential oil of C. morifolium. Both Chrysanthemum oils were also revealed to possess antioxidant potential, exhibiting high antioxidative activities. In particular, the DPPH radical scavenging activities of the C. morifolium and C. indicum oils at a concentration of 100 mg/mL were 76.9 and 83.2%, respectively. The metal chelating values of C. morifolium and C. indicum were 0.85 and 0.76, whereas the reducing power values of that at 100 mg/mL were 0.76 and 0.71, respectively. This study provides the chemical properties of the essential oils of both C. morifolium and C. indicum grown in Vietnam and their potential antioxidant capacity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.797-805
• /
• 2023

Species belonging to the Vernonia (Asteraceae), the largest genus in the tribe Vernonieae (consisting of about 1,000 species), are widely used in food and medicine. These plants are rich sources of bioactive sesquiterpene lactones and steroid saponins, likely including many as yet undiscovered chemical components. A phytochemical investigation resulted in the separation of three new stigmastane-type steroidal saponins (1 - 3), designated as vernogratiosides A-C, from whole plants of V. gratiosa. Their structures were elucidated based on infrared spectroscopy (IR), one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR), high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS), and electronic circular dichroism analyses (ECD), as well as chemical reactivity. Molecular docking analysis of representative saponins with α-glucosidase inhibitory activity was performed. Additionally, the intended substances were tested for their ability to inhibit α-glucosidase activity in a laboratory setting. The results suggested that stigmastane-type steroidal saponins from V. gratiosa are promising candidate antidiabetic agents.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
• /
• 2022.10a
• /
• pp.210-210
• /
• 2022

Silybum marianum is an annual or biennial plant from the Asteraceae family. It can grow in low-nutrient soil and drought conditions, making it easy to cultivate. From the seed, a specialized plant metabolite called silymarin (flavonolignan complex) is produced and is known to alleviate the liver from hepatitis and toxins damages. To infer the phylogenetic placement of a Korean milk thistle, we conducted a chloroplast assembly and annotation following by a comparison with existing Chinese reference genome (NC_028027). The chloroplast genome structure was highly similar with an assembly size of 152,642 bp, an 153,202 bp for Korean and Chinese milk thistle respectively. Moreover, there were similarities at the gene level, coding sequence (n = 82), transfer RNA (n = 31) and ribosomal RNA (n = 4). From all coding sequences gene set, the phylogenetic tree inference placed the Korean cultivar into the milk thistle clade; corroborating the expected tree. Moreover, an investigation the tree based only on the ycf1 gene confirmed the same tree; suggesting that ycf1 gene is a potential marker for DNA barcoding and population diversity study in milk thistle genus. Overall, the provided data represents a valuable resource for population genomics and species-centered determination since several species have been reported in the Silybum genus.